Comfort and Caring
by independence
Summary: Naruto is feeling down. He feels alone but does he care? find out... when Naruto is wisked away to a dream world and meets his parents?


**Comfort and Caring**

Naruto lay in bed wide awake. He was so hungry, but he knew he shouldn't eat. He wasn't that stupid. Naruto was recovering from the flu. His appetite was returning, but he still couldn't keep food down. He no longer had a fever, just a sensitive stomach and a cough.

"Remember get plenty of sleep and lots of liquids", Kashshi sensei's word rang in his head like a pesky mother, but Naruto didn't know what that was like. He never knew a mother or father. He didn't care.

**RIGHT???**

Grudgingly Naruto pulled himself out of bed, _"Guess I should at least have some broth"_. He walked into the kitchen and quickly prepared a feast of yummy chicken broth.

"_Yuck, I'm so sick of this", _he thought as he made him self comfortable in the old wooden rocker in his room. Naruto had had nothing but chicken broth and crackers over the last three days. He let his mind drift as he sipped on his delectable meal. Naruto had recently become a genin. _"Wonder if my parents would have been proud". _He sighed.

"**WHAT DO I CARE?", **he screamed as he realized what had just past his mind. "Why should I care what other people think? Everyone hates me anyway." Naruto had been picked on by people his entire life.

**Why should he care anymore?**

He gulped down the rest of the broth and laid down in bed. It didn't take long for Naruto to drift into a deep dreamy sleep…

_Naruto woke up in a daze. He was standing in the middle of the village hidden in the leaves, but something was different. He couldn't put his finger on it ,but it wasn't the same. It wasn't as peaceful as serine. Then he heard laughter behind him. Walking past was a young couple. The man was tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. Walking beside him clucthing his arm was a light haired, green eyed pregnant woman._

_Naruto stood mesmerized by her beauty. _

"_Wow" before he realized the word slipped from his mouth. The couple turned to him. _

"_Did you say something?" the man asked with a tensed smile._

"_No" he hurriedly replied._

"_Naruto" the woman quietly whispered. _

"_How did you know my name?" Naruto asked suspiciously. The man looked confused. The woman just blushed. _

"_I don't know", she muttered._

"_Where are you off to?" the man questioned. _

"_No where", replied Naruto._

"_Why don't you come with us?" the woman suggested cheerfully._

"_Where are you going?", Naruto asked curiously._

"_Home", she answered with a warm smile._

"_Okay", stated Naruto. Not to long after, Naruto stood in front of the apartment that he called home._

"_What this is were you live?" he asked._

"_Yes, is that odd"_

"_NO!", Naruto quickly stated. Just as the man turned the knob to go in they all heard loud cries. Then someone came running screaming, "Hokage, come quick the fox is on the move."_

_"Hokage!?!" Naruto whispered wide eyed._

"_I have to go! I'm sorry." The man kissed the woman before turning to leave._

"_Be careful", the woman shouted._

"_Don't worry. I'll be back soon!" he shouted as he ran off. The woman looked melancoly for a moment. Then she remembered her guest._

"_Please, come in. Do want some ramen?"_

"_YES", Naruto couldn't resist even if he was sick.The woman prepared them each a large bowl. She sat down with a sad look._

"_Why - are - you - upset?" Naruto managed between gulps._

"_Oh, It's nothing. You needn't worry about it" she kindly stated. " but thank you for caring. After we finish here, I feel for some reason that there is something I need to show you."_

"_Okay", Naruto said dully. Shortly after they both consumed several bowls of ramen, the woman led Naruto down to a bedroom, the same bedroom he slept in every night. Except it was different. Instead of a twin bed and dresser there was a baby's bed and changing table. However some things were exactly the same such as the orange walls. The thing that really caught his attention was wooden rocker with scratches from wear and tear. He walked over to it almost in a trance, and brushed his hand against the back. There were many a times he had rocked himself to sleep in that very rocker. _

_"That is my grandmother's rocker. She gave it to my mom, and my mom gave it to me", the woman said as she curiosly watched him. Naruto peeled his eyes from the chair, to stare at her. Then she started to talk, "Someday I hope to rock my baby to sleep in this rocker, but for some reason I don't think I ever will. __**Will I Naruto?" **_

"_Why are you asking me?", he asked knowing the answer._

_She replied, "For some reason when I first saw you I knew you must be my baby coming to visit me!" She raised her hand to rest on her belly. "You don't have to lie to me. You're the spitting image of your father." Naruto let the tears spill that he had been unknowingly been biting back. His mother moved forward to comfort him. Then for the first time in his life he felt a mother's love, strong and unchanging._

"_I'm sorry", she whispered. _

"_Why? ", he asked between light shakey sobs._

"_Because I will never see you grow up, but no matter what you do I'll always be proud."_

"_So will I", his father stepped into the room and embraced his family. For a moment they hung on to each other as a happy family._

With that Naruto woke up at peace. He did care. Now he knew both of parents would always be proud of him. They really did care. He really cared.

THE END


End file.
